How to: Create a BIG-IP VE Next HA from BIG-IP Next Central Manager

Overview

Create a BIG-IP Next HA instance to manage and safeguard your applications and traffic in the event there is an issue with the provider the BIG-IP Next is installed on. If there is an issue, BIG-IP Next Central Manager will failover from the active BIG-IP Next HA node to the standby node with no disruption to current traffic or applications.

Prerequisites

Two healthy standalone BIG-IP Next instances created from BIG-IP Next Central Manager running the same software version on the same provider. See How to: Create a BIG-IP Next instance in a VMware vSphere environment using an onboarding template for details.

Procedure

  1. Log in to BIG-IP Next Central Manager as admin, click the Workspace icon next to the F5 icon, and click Infrastructure.

  2. Click the mode link of the standalone BIG-IP Next instance you want to become the active node in the BIG-IP Next HA instance.
    The High Availability panel opens.

  3. Click the Enable HA button.
    The HA Nodes panel opens.

  4. The name and IP address for the BIG-IP Next instance that you selected displays.
    This will be the active node in the BIG-IP Next HA instance after it’s created.

  5. From the Available Standby Instances list, select the BIG-IP Next instance you want to designate as the standby node in the BIG-IP Next HA instance, and click the Next button.
    BIG-IP Next Central Manager displays only BIG-IP Next instances that meet the requirements to be a standby node. That is, only healthy BIG-IP Next instances running the same software version as the future active node on the same provider (VE).

  6. From the Control Plane VLAN list, select a VLAN for this BIG-IP Next HA instance.
    Alternatively, you can create a new VLAN by clicking the Create VLAN link and specifying its properties so that VLAN becomes available to select from the list.
    Important: When creating a new VLAN, the name must be unique and no longer than 15 characters. Longer names cause issues if troubleshooting is required.

  7. From the Data Plane VLAN list for this BIG-IP Next HA instance, select a VLAN.
    Alternatively, you can create a new VLAN and interface by clicking the Create VLAN link and specifying its properties so that VLAN becomes available to select from the list.
    Important: When creating a new VLAN, the name must be unique and no longer than 15 characters. Longer names cause issues if troubleshooting is required.

  8. After you select the VLANs, click the Next button.
    The HA Properties panel opens.

  9. Enter the HA Management (Floating) IP Address for use when failing over to the standby node.

  10. Select the Enable Auto Fallback checkbox to prompt BIG-IP Next Central Manager to automatically fall back if a node becomes unhealthy.

  11. Enter the Control Plane and Data Plane IP addresses that the active and standby nodes use for communication with each other.
    The CIDR must be unique for each IP address and must use the same interface.

  12. Click Next.
    The Traffic VLANs panel opens and displays the VLANs you specified for traffic.
    You can have only one IP address for each active and standby node, but you can add additional floating IP addresses by clicking on the VLAN name.

  13. Click each VLAN to open a panel to add the respective Active, Standby, and Floating IP addresses.
    When each VLAN displays a green check mark, you can proceed.

  14. Click Next.
    The Summary screen opens to display the BIG-IP Next HA configuration you specified.

Result

BIG-IP Next Central Manager converts the standalone BIG-IP Next instance to a BIG-IP Next HA instance consisting of an active and standby node.